Age: 20
female
Indigenous actress, singer and artist Kiawenti:io Tarbell was born on April 28, 2006 to a Mohawk family in Akwesasne, Ontario, Canada and is a member of the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne. The First Nation actress is widely known only by her mononymous first name, Kiawentiio, which translates to "Nice Morning" and is pronounced "Gya-wuhn-dee-yo." As a young girl, she grew up on Cornwall Island, part of the Akwesasne Reservation, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, right on the US border. She received her education at the Akwesasne Freedom School and at the Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School, one of the oldest schools in Canada. For the third season of the renowned Canadian TV series "Anne with an E", which was first broadcast by the CBC in 2019, a public casting call was launched looking for a young indigenous actress for the important recurring role of a Mi'kmaq girl. She was able to prevail against 235 competitors and achieved her first notable acting success with the role of Ka'kwet, which remained in the audience's memory. She then had her critically acclaimed acting breakthrough in 2020 with the lead role in the film drama "Beans" by Mohawk director Tracey Deer, in which she plays the role of 12-year-old Tekahentahkhwa (called Beans), who experienced the Oka crisis in Kanesatake in the year 1990, a 78-day violent confrontation between the Canadian indigenous people and the Canadian authorities with road blockages and fatalities. The film won Best Canadian Film at the Canadian Screen Awards and Kiawentiio won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle One to Watch award for her breakthrough performance. After guest appearances in the American sitcom series "Rutherford Falls" released in 2021 by Peacock and as a voice actor in the animated Marvel anthology series "What If...?" from Disney+ she can be seen in the role of Kantara in the live-action series remake of "Avatar: The Last Airbender", released by Netflix in 2024. She was cast for the streaming provider's fantasy series highlight at the age of 14 after her success with "Beans". According to her own statements, she is a big fan of the original Nickelodeon animated series and grew up with the characters, but as a little native girl on the reservation, she never thought that she herself could embody one of the main characters in the future. As a singer and songwriter, she released her first EP “In My Head” in 2021 with four songs she wrote herself. She also sings the title song of the film "Beans" herself. She has also been active as a painter and artist since a young age and shares her paintings and drawings on her Instagram channel with her 660,000 followers. Kiawentiio now lives alternately in Ottawa, Montreal and New York and has both Canadian and US citizenship.
Kiawentiio
Lavagirl
for Lavagirl in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
Suggested by sarahlalbuquerque
Max is a lonely child in the suburbs of Austin who creates an imaginary dreamworld named Planet Drool, where all of his dreams come to life. He creates two characters; Sharkboy, who was raised by sharks after losing his father at sea and became a shark-hybrid himself, and Lavagirl, who can produce fire and lava, but has trouble touching objects without setting them alight. The two left Max to guard Planet Drool. In reality, Max's parents have little time for him, and their marriage is not going well. Max is also bullied by fellow schoolmate Linus. However, he does receive friendship from Marissa, the daughter of his teacher Mr. Electricidad. After a chase, Linus steals Max's dream journal and vandalizes it. The next day, as Max attempts to retaliate, twin tornadoes form outside the school. Sharkboy and Lavagirl emerge from the tornadoes and have Max accompany them to Planet Drool, which he learns is turning bad because of Mr. Electric, the dreamworld's now-corrupt electrician. They confront Mr. Electric, who drops them in the Dream Graveyard, where some of Max's dreams have been dumped. They find Tobor, a robot toy that Max never finished building in the real world after being discouraged by his father. Tobor gives them a lift to other parts of the planet. The three form a friendship during their journey, but they face hardships, such as Sharkboy's anger for the oceans being frozen over, and Lavagirl's desperation to find her true purpose on Planet Drool. They are pursued by Mr. Electric and his "plughounds" across the planet. They plan to visit the Ice Princess and obtain the Crystal Heart, which can freeze time, giving them enough time to get to the center of Planet Drool and fix the dreamworld using Max's daydreaming. However, they are captured by Mr. Electric, and delivered to Linus's Planet Drool incarnation Minus, who has altered the dreamworld with Max's journal, and traps the three in a cage. Sharkboy gets annoyed by Minus and has a "shark frenzy", destroying the cage. After they escape, Max retrieves the dream journal from Minus while he is sleeping. Max informs Sharkboy that his father is alive in his book, but when Lavagirl wishes to learn what it says about her true identity, she burns the book to ash. In rage, Lavagirl asks Max why she is made out of lava, but Sharkboy tells him to let her cool down. After an encounter with the Ice Guardian, Max, Sharkboy, and Lavagirl reach the Ice Princess, the Planet Drool incarnation of Marissa. She hands over the Crystal Heart, but they are too late to stop the corruption since the ice princess is the only one who can use the Crystal Heart's power, and she cannot leave her home. Mr. Electric fools Sharkboy into jumping into water filled with electric eels, seemingly killing him. Lavagirl also dies after jumping into the water to retrieve Sharkboy. Tobor appears and convinces Max to dream a better and unselfish dream, which in turn revives Sharkboy, who then races Lavagirl to a volcano to revive her. Max concludes that her purpose is as a light against the dark clouds which have engulfed Planet Drool's skies. Max gains reality warping as the Daydreamer and defeats Minus, then offers to make a better dreamworld between the two of them, to which Minus agrees. Mr. Electric refuses to accept the new dreamworld, and flies to Earth to kill Max while he is dreaming. Max awakens back in his classroom during the tornado storm. Mr. Electric materializes, and Max's parents get sucked into the storm, but are saved by Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Max gives the Crystal Heart to Marissa so she can use the Ice Princess's powers to destroy Mr. Electric. Mr. Electricidad, Linus and Max make peace with one another, and Max reunites with his parents. Max later informs his class that Planet Drool became a proper dreamworld again, Sharkboy became the King of the Ocean, and Lavagirl became Queen of the Volcanoes, and as the film shows Max finally finishing Tobor, he reminds the class to "dream a better dream, and work to make it real".
